Sustainable Plants Go Mainstream - Companies shift to sustainable manufacturing and green products

摘要

The New Belgium Brewing Co., in Fort Collins, Colo., was green before green became cool. The brewery appointed a sustainability expert in 2002. In 2006, the company raised the position to boardroom status, placing the company's former chief financial officer and chief operating officer in the role of sustainability director. At first, the effort to go green was an expense - the price the company was willing to pay to elevate its position among employees and customers. In the last few years of energy spikes, the effort toward sustainability comes with a return on investment (ROI). "The payoff for sustainability is in dollars now," says Jenn Orgolini, sustainability director at New Belgium Brewing. "It took a long time for the ROI, but the payoff is there now."